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Sedimentary rock formations are exposed over approximately 70% of the Bedrock
earth’s land surface. These sedimentary formations are typically hundreds aquifers
to thousands of metres thick, and they are underlain by the igneous and
metamorphic rocks that make up the rest of the crust.
Much of the bedrock is also covered with tens to hundreds of metres of Surficial aquifers
unconsolidated sediments (a.k.a. surficial deposits or drift). These
include colluvial materials (deposited from mass wasting) alluvial materials
(deposited by flowing water), glacial deposits and eolian (wind-blown)
deposits. They are “unconsolidated” because they have not been around
long enough, and have not been buried deep enough to have become
lithified.
Surficial deposits that are more than a few metres thick can be very
important sources of groundwater, partly because they tend to have quite
high porosities and permeabilities, and also because they are amenable for
the development of wells.
We will discuss the aquifer properties of specific types of rock and surficial
materials in more detail later in the course.
2
Bedded and
cross-bedded
Tapeats Fm.
Sandstone,
Chino Valley,
Arizona
Weathered
Quatsino Fm.
limestone near
to Cowichan
Lake, B.C.
Metamorphic
Metamorphic rocks form when existing sedimentary or igneous rocks get rocks
heated to the extent that the existing minerals start to recrystallize into new
minerals. Almost invariably this leads to the development of interlocking
textures with low porosities. Most metamorphic rocks are comprised of the
relatively insoluble silicate minerals.
1.3 Porosity
Porosity
The empty spaces in between the crystals or fragments that make up a
rock represent porosity that can hold water.
Porosity is a measure of how much water a body
of rock can hold, expressed as a percentage of the
rock’s volume. The spaces between the grains or
crystals of a rock are referred to as intergranular
porosity. Fractures in a rock also represent
porosity, and this is known as fracture porosity.
All rocks are susceptible to fracturing, either as a result of tectonic forces, Fracture
or as part of weathering (e.g. related to pressure release). Strong rocks, porosity
like granite or gneiss, may not fracture as easily as weaker rocks, but they
can still be sufficiently well broken up to induce significant fracture-related
porosity – especially near to surface. Most sedimentary rocks fracture
relatively easily. In addition, fracture-like porosity is developed along
bedding planes in many cases.
Exfoliation
fracturing of
granite in the
Coquihalla
canyon, B.C.
Some of the best aquifers are in rocks that have both intergranular porosity
and well-developed fracture porosity.
Rusty coloration
indicates water
flow along both
fractures and
coarse-grained
layers in
Nanaimo Gp.
sandstone
As noted above, chemical sedimentary rocks in particular, but also some Solution porosity
clastic rocks, typically include some minerals that are soluble in water or
weak acids. The most obvious example is limestone, which is readily
dissolved by rainwater that has reacted with carbon dioxide in the air and
the soil (to become weak carbonic acid). Bodies of limestone can have
very high porosity, although the porosity is commonly quite localized along
fractures and bedding planes.
Dissolution and
erosion of
calcareous beds
in Nanaimo Gp.
sandstone,
Malaspina Cut
Secondly, while water molecules are very small, and can make their way Surface tension
into even the tiniest spaces in a rock, they are strongly attracted and held
to solids by surface tension. The strength of the attraction between the
water and the mineral grains is proportional to the distance between the
water molecule and the surface. Water molecules within a few microns of
a surface are very strongly attracted to the surface, while those a few tens
or hundreds of microns away are less strongly attracted. If a coarse-
grained sediment is allowed to drain (by gravity) much of the water will flow
out of it, but some will be retained on the mineral surfaces. In a fine-
grained sediment, where many of the pores may only be a few microns in
diameter, most of the interstitial water will be tightly held to surfaces, and
will not flow out.
The proportion of the water in the rock that does drain out readily is known Specific yield
as the specific yield. Fine-grained materials or rock, such as clay or shale,
are likely to have specific yields of 5% or less, even where the porosity is in
the order of 20 to 30%. Coarse-grained materials or rocks such as coarse
sandstone can have specific yields that are closer to their actual porosity –
in the range 20 to 35%.
Specific retention is the opposite of specific yield – being the amount of Specific
pore water that does not drain readily under gravity. The sum of the retention
specific yield and specific retention is the porosity. A sandstone might
have a specific yield of 20% and a specific retention of 6% for a total
porosity of 26%. A shale might have a specific yield of 2% and a specific
retention of 31%, for a total porosity of 33%.
v = K(dh/dl)
The hydraulic conductivity is used to estimate the flow of dilute water – a Intrinsic
fluid with a viscosity of about 1.1 cp (centipoise) at normal temperatures, permeability (Ki)
and a density very close to 1 g/cm3. In fact, groundwaters can have quite
variable viscosities and densities, due to differing temperatures and
dissolved contents. Geologists might also be interested in understanding
flow rates of other fluids, such as oil. For this reason, we need to consider
the concept of intrinsic permeability - Ki - which is a measure of the
properties of the rock or sediment only.
Finally, permeability can be measured in the field by observing the rates at Pump and slug
which water levels in wells change in response to pump tests (which tests
involve lowering the water level in a well) or slug tests (which involve
raising the water level in a well). These methods, which give a more
realistic measure of the actual permeability, are described in Chapter 5 of
Fetter.
Range of
As shown on permeabilities
the diagram to
the right, or
table 3.7 of
Fetter,
geological
materials have
hydraulic
conductivities
that can range
over many
orders of
magnitude.
Aquifer: a body of rock that contains sufficient saturated permeable Definitions from
material to yield a significant quantity of water to wells and springs the AGI
Aquiclude: a body of rock that is incapable of transmitting a significant Glossary of
quantity of water (equivalent to “confining layer”) Geology
Aquitard: equivalent to acquiclude
Aquifuge: (obsolete) a body of rock with no interconnected openings
If a body of permeable rock has isolated impermeable lenses, such as clay Perched
aquifers
lenses in a sand deposit, some groundwater may accumulate above the
clay lenses. The upper limit of such a body of water is known as a
perched water table.
Within an aquifer the water will flow from areas where the elevation of the Groundwater
potentiometric surface is high to areas where the elevation is lower. For flow direction
example, if the water table is at an elevation of 100 m in well A and 90 m in
nearby well B, we can assume that, in general, the groundwater will flow
from A towards B. For an unconfined aquifer made up of unconsolidated
sediments this principal may apply literally, but there are many situations
where the aquifer is either heterogeneous or anisotropic, and the
groundwater will be constrained to flow in a specific direction.
Within the unsaturated or vadose zone (above the water table) water does Flow of
recharging water
not flow according to Darcy’s law. Providing that the material is isotropic
and homogeneous, recharging water – such as that from a precipitation
event - will flow vertically downward in response to gravity. The rate of flow
will be dependant on the hydraulic conductivity of the material, but its rate
cannot be estimated using v = K(dh/dl).
The topic of water flow within the vadose zone is discussed in detail in
Chapter 6 of Fetter, particularly in section 6.7.